SNC-Lavalin says bribery charges could force closing -Globe and Mail

Reuters Staff

2 Min Read

Oct 8 (Reuters) - The head of Canadian engineering giant SNC-Lavalin Group Inc said any move by authorities to charge the company in connection with an extensive bribery scandal would immediately threaten its future and could force it to close down, according to a newspaper report on Wednesday.

SNC Chief Executive Robert Card, in an interview with the Globe and Mail, said he would be “deeply concerned” if the company was charged because it would hurt the business severely.

SNC has been attempting to recover from a far-reaching corruption and ethics scandal that has toppled senior executives and led to charges being filed against some of them.

“If the company can’t do business, you really only have two choices. You are going to do some dismemberment and cease to exist entirely, or you are going to be owned by somebody else,” said Card, according to the report, which said he warned that a shift to a foreign owner would jeopardize the 5,000 Canadian SNC jobs that are associated with its headquarters.

SNC was not immediately reachable to comment on the report. (Writing by Euan Rocha; Editing by Alden Bentley)